Ball-bearing



(No Model.)

G. T. WARWICK.

BALL BEARING. V No.578,049. A' Patented Mar. Z, 1897.

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UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE.

GEORGE T. WARWICK, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

BALL-BEARING.

SPECIFICATION forming` part of Letters Patent No. 578,049, dated March 2, 1897. Application led March 16, 1896. Serial No. 583,367. (No model.)

T all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE T. WARWICK, l

a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ball- Bearings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improved constructions of ball-bearing mechanism for bicycles and analogous vehicles, the novelties most particularly pertaining to the construction of the parts forming the members between which the balls are comprised and the inclusion within or relative to said parts of a ball-retainer whereby on the removal of one of the members of the bearing the balls will be withheld against spilling, and the constructions and combinations inclusive of the hub, sprocket-wheel, and one of the members of the ball-bearing whereby the said one of the ballbearing members constitutes the lookin g device, preventing the sprocket-wheel from becoming detached from the hub, especially at the time of back-pedaling.

The invention consists in the construction and combinations of parts and devices, all substantially as will hereinafter fully appear,Y and be set forth in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View representing a rear-wheel axle for a bicycle and the hub and sprocket-wheel thereon, the bearing devices appearing as partially and externally exposed. Fig. 2 is a central longitudin al sectional view through the same. Fig.' 3 is an outer end view of the ball-case and sprocket-Wheel. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the removable ball-case asV seen from the inner end thereof, comprising the ball-re. tainer. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the spring ball-retainer.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all of the views, and in the drawings A represents the hub, havingA within each end portion the internal screwthreads ct o2 for the reception of the correspondingly externally-threaded portions b2 of the annular ball-cases B B2. At its sprocketreceiving end the hub is externally screwthreaded at d reversely of the internal screwthread at such end and is also shouldered at f, whereby to receive the hub of the sprocketwheel C thereon and with its inner end against said shoulder f.

D represents the axle or shaft, and E E2 are the cones, the one E having a sliding fit on the extremity of the shaft, limited by the shoulder e, while the cone E2 at the opposite end of the hub screw-threads on the axle.

The balls g are comprised in the annular ball-race constituted by the groove h in the ball-case B or B2 and the adjacent tapering portion of this cone, which is som ewhat widely surrounded by the said ball-case.

The boss or dome-like end 10 of each of the ball-cases terminates or converges in the annular groove 12 and iiange 13, and the groove 14 in the flange at the end of the cone receives the said end iiange 13 of the ball-case, the outer boundary of the groove 14. in its close relation to the said end liange constituting a good dust-guard. v

It will be here pointed out that should water come upon the exterior of the ball-case in running down on the dome-like portion thereof it will upon reaching said groove l2 encounter the iiange 13 outside thereof and be prevented from owing into the interior of the bearings, but will7 on the other hand, drop from the groove.

The annular ball-case B or B2 at its inner end has the seat or shoulder j and the annular groove 15 in the internal wall of the ball` case near said seat.

The ball-retainer comprises an annular shell m, open at both ends and provided with a base-flange m2 and a spring m3 forholding the retainer against accidental displacement, although capable of being purposely sprung to permit the removal when desired.

The cone E or E2 projects into the ball-case from the outer end of the latter, and of course when in its place and adjusted prevents the removal of the balls. The ball-retainer has its base-flange mi-set upon saidl seat j in the ball-case, while the annular portion m of the retainer, through which the axle or shaft freely passes, is in proximity to the end of the cone. The distancebetween the circular end of the retainer and the outer edge of the ball-groove his somewhat (in prac- IOO tice very slightly) less than the diameter of the balls. The spring is here shown at m3 as of round wire bent to comprise the greater portion of a circle and having its ends 1S angularly and rearwardly turned. By having the rear or inner mouth of the ball-case flaring, as seen at 20, suoli mouth tapering down to the groove 15, the spring may be easily constrieted as it is crowded toward the flange m2 of the retainer, whereby to snap into the said groove 15 therefor, (the depth of which is not necessarily as great as the thickness of the wire from which the spring is made.) The angular end pieces 18 1S serve as finger-lugs to conveniently secure the reconstriction of the spring for its removal. Therefore, of course, when the ball-cases B B2 are removed the balls are carried with them without liability of displacement, and yet obviously their removal is readily done at pleasure.

The retainer may be constructed in the form of a very thin light shell spun up or struck up, there being no necessity for great stability or strength, as it has to withstand no pressure and is not at any time liable to sustain injury or distortion. Its presence therefore does not add materially to the weight of the bearing, while the advantage of removing the ball-cases with the balls intact is manifest.

The sprocket-wheel C, screwing with, say, a right-hand thread on the correspondinglythreaded portion of the hub, beds against the said shoulder f of the hub, and the draft of the sprocket-chain for the propulsion of the bicycle, che. ,the more tightly sets the sprocketwheel on the hub. The ball-ease B, screwing into the end of the hub with a left-hand or reverse thread, sets up against the outer face or end of the sprocket-wheel and serves as a bed against which the sprocket-wheel sets when the draft of the sprocket-wheel is .reversed in back-pedaling, and therefore the provision of the hub having the shoulder f and the reversely-threaded external and internal portions, the sprocket-wheel screwing and setting against the hubshoulder and the ball-case screwing into the hub and by a proximate portion thereof constituting a check against the loosening of the sprocketwheel, contemplates a novel arrangement and valuable result, especially in view of the fact that it dispenses with the necessity of a checknut, the use of which is undesirable, owing to its being an extra cumbrous and weighty part, and because, as plain, the application of the cheek-nut could not be conveniently made.

The edge portion of the ball-case B is peripherally recessed, or serrated as shown at n, and is overlaid by the widened rim 0 of the sprocket-wheel. A set-screw t, passing through the widened rim, detachably engages in some of the recesses n and holds the ballcase from turning or being turned p to affect the adjustment of the bearings so far as the same would be affected by the movement of the ball-case. The movement of the one cone at one end of the hub insures the adjustment of the bearings at both ends of the hub.

I-Iaving now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In combination, a hub or corresponding part, a shaft or axle, an annular ball-ease removably confined in the hub, and having an internal ball-groove, a cone entering the annular ball-case, the balls and a ball-retainer removably applied within the ball-case, and having a circular edge of such retainer located at a distance from the farther edge of the ball-groove which distance is less than the diameter of the balls, and a spring for coniining the retainer in the ball-case, substantially as described.

2. In combination, a hub or corresponding part, a shaft or axle, a ball-case, removably confined in the hub, having an internal ballgroove, and having an annular seat back of the ball-groove, a cone and the balls, and a ball-retainer consisting of an annular shell with a base-flange, the latter resting on the said annular seat, while the end'of the annular part has a position to so close the annular mouth of the ball-race as to prevent the accidental displacement of the balls, and a means for detachably holding the ball-retainer in its juxtaposition, substantially as described.

3. In combination, a hub or corresponding part, a shaft or axle, a ball-case, removably confined in the hub or like part, having an internal ball-groove, an annular seat back of said groove, and a small annular groove back of said seat, a cone and the balls, the annular ball-retaining shell having the iiange m2 to rest on said seat, and the circularly-bent spring m3 having the an gularly-bent fingerlugs 1S 18, all arranged substantially as described and shown.

4. In combination, a hub or corresponding part, a shaft or axle, a ball-case, removably confined in the hub or like part having an internal ball-groove, an annular seat back of the groove, a small annular groove 15 back of said scat, and said case having its internal wall 2O from said groove rearwardly flaring, a cone and the balls, the annular ballretaining shell having the flange m2 to rest on said seat, and the circularly-bent spring adapted by constriction to be snapped into said groove 15, substantially as described and shown.

5. In a bicycle or analogous vehicle, in combination, the hub, a sprocket-wheel, externally screwing onto the hub, said sprocket having a iianged rim, the ball-case having the serrated periphery, screwing into the end of the hub, with its said serrated portion within said rim-iiange of the sprocket, the balls in said ball-case, and a set-screw passed through the said flange to engagement in one IOO IIO

of the peripheral serrations in the ball-oase, which to closely accommodate the end iange substantially as described. l on the ball-case, for the purposes set forth.

6. Inabicycle or analogous vehicle the oom- In testimony that I claim the foregoing as binaiion with the annular ball-case having at my invention I have signed my name in pres- 5 its outer end the conical or dome-shaped porence of two Witnesses hereto.

tion 10 which terminates 'in the groove and end ange, and the balls in said ball-case, of GEO' T 'WARWIGK' a cone bearing upon the balls through the Witnesses: central opening in the ball-case, and having I. H. DREYFUSS, 1o the annular flange with a groove therein in M. J. DOBLER. 

